Method and apparatus to shuffle and order playing cards

ABSTRACT

A card shuffling and ordering system and method which operates with four card hoppers arranged into first and second pairs. In the operation of the system, a first pair of card hoppers holds at least approximately two halves of a deck of cards, which are then selectively interlaced or sorted to the other pair of hoppers. The cards are then selectively interlaced or sorted from the hoppers of the second pair of hoppers back to the hoppers of the first pair of hoppers, with the operation being repeated as needed.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of and claims priority to co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/009,571, filed Jan. 16, 2008, which in turn claims priority to U.S. provisional applications, Ser. No. 60/881,628, filed Jan. 22, 2007, and Ser. No. 60/900,940, filed Feb. 12, 2007, all of which are included by reference.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present disclosure describes a playing card shuffling and ordering device.

BACKGROUND

Before there were automatic card shufflers, casino card dealers shuffled decks of cards by hand for card games such as poker and blackjack. In single deck card games such as poker, dealers would also have to periodically, between hands, count the deck to make sure there was the correct number of cards. When decks of cards were no longer needed for a particular game, either the game broke or a new setup was brought in, a casino employee would have to do a setup, put the decks of cards back in their original order, so the decks could be spread and checked at the start of the next game.

For single deck games, doing a setup, putting scrambled decks back in their original order, is something casinos still have to do by hand. For multideck games, setups are usually not even done; unless the cards are being retired from use and being packaged for resale.

The traditional shuffle used by casino dealers to shuffle a single deck of cards is a scramble followed by a riffle, riffle, strip, and a final riffle shuffle. A scramble is when a deck of cards is spread out face down on the table and then randomly mixed around together by the dealer using both hands in a circular motion. The cards are then brought together into a pile, picked up, and straightened out into a deck again. For expediency, some casinos have eliminated the scramble.

For a riffle, riffle, strip, riffle shuffle, a deck of cards is first cut about midway into two half decks. Cards from the two half decks are then riffled, or interlaced, together again to form one deck. This is repeated a second time. For the next step, the strip, or box, the dealer takes the deck of cards and removes approximately the top, quarter of the deck and places the removed cards on the table. The dealer then removes a next group of cards, about a quarter of a full deck, and places this second group of cards on top of the first group of cards already on the table. This is repeated again, with the dealer again removing about a quarter of a full deck of cards and placing this third group of cards, on top of the cards already on the table. Then the last remaining group of cards, which was the bottom quarter of the deck, is placed on top of the cards already on the table. Essentially, the deck is divided into four quarters, and the four quarters put in inverse order. After the strip or box, the dealer then cuts the deck into two halves and riffles the two halves together to complete the shuffle.

A better method of shuffling than the standard riffle, riffle, strip, riffle shuffle would be for a dealer to simply do seven riffles. Doing a seven riffle shuffle would result in a mathematically provable random outcome, but would take longer than the standard riffle, riffle, strip, riffle shuffle. The random outcome of a seven riffle shuffle was proven through mathematical modeling by David Bayer and Persi Diaconis, in their paper “Trailing the Dovetail Shuffle to its Lair” (Ann. Appl. Probability 2, 294-313, 1992). They showed that after seven random riffle shuffles, of a deck of 52 cards, every configuration or outcome is possible and nearly equally likely, and that more shuffles would not increase the degree of randomness in the deck. The mathematical model of the riffle shuffle they used is called the GSR (Gilbert, Shannon, Reeds) model. Following the publication of that paper, much research was done by others to investigate the same question using different methods. The subsequent research proved the validity of the GSR model and the conclusions of Bayer and Diaconis.

The method of shuffling most often used by casino dealers in multideck games is known as the ABC hand shuffle In the ABC hand shuffle, a dealer first cuts a multideck stack of cards into two stacks; A and C. Then the dealer does a riffle, riffle, strip, riffle shuffle using a half deck of cards from each of the multideck stacks, placing the resultant shuffled cards in the middle to start a stack B. The dealer then does a series of riffle, riffle, strip, riffle shuffles, each time using a half deck from the top of stack B and a half deck of cards from either stack A or C in an alternating manor and placing the resultant shuffled cards on stack B until stacks A and C are depleted. The dealer then takes the single multideck stack of cards, cuts it in half, and interlace the two half stacks of cards, a chunk at a time, to complete the shuffle.

Two designs are currently enjoying commercial success today, with enough speed and randomness to be used as card shufflers in the heavily regulated casino environment. The two designs are U.S. Pat. Application Publication Nos. 20050110211 (to Blad, Steven J.; et al.) and 20030073498 (to Grauzer, Atilla; et al.). U.S. Pat. No. 20050110211 discloses a shuffling machine based on random ejection. U.S. Pat. No. 20030073498 discloses a random insert device. It operates by a position of the elevator being randomly selected and the support surface is moved to the selected position, and after the gripping arm grasps at least one side of the cards, the elevator lowers, creating a space beneath the gripping arm, wherein a card is moved from the infeed compartment into the space, thereby randomizing the cards. Both are one pass devices that take an input deck and use a random number generator (RNG) to directly build an output deck.

Many mechanical interlacing devices have also been patented to shuffle cards. U.S. Pat. No. 5,275,411 (to Breeding) discloses the most recent of that type of design. A carriage mechanism separates the deck into two deck portions, rotates the two portions to a relative angular relationship with a corner of each in close proximity, riffles the portions, and combines them into a single shuffled deck. Mechanical interlacing devices have the greatest speed, but their problem is that their degree of randomness can not be assured.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,748 (to Frisco, et al) discloses a device which uses a RNG and repetitively cuts and interleaves a deck. It is a device and method for shuffling a stack of N cards. The stack is positioned at a cutting station where the card stack is cut into unequal portions (N/2)−A and (N/2)+A. The cards from each portion are then deposited in an interleaving fashion. The additional quantity of cards A of one of the portions is transported from proximate the center of the stack N to the top of the shuffled stack. Further cutting and interleaving randomly distributes the cards in the stack.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,748 (to Frisco, et al) discloses a device which has to reload between interleavings. Cards are interleaved to an output stack, which then has to be moved by an elevator back to the cutting station, where the output stack is then cut into two stacks to be interleaved again.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,748 (to Frisco, et al) claims to be useable for shuffling multiple decks of cards, e.g. two to six decks. The amount of interleavings necessary to obtain a random shuffle increases dramatically as the number of cards to be shuffled increases. The time it would take to provide the amount of interleavings necessary to shuffle six decks of cards at once to achieve a sufficient degree of randomness renders the device impractical.

SUMMARY

An embodiment of the present invention includes a microprocessor driven mechanical card interlacing and sorting device that can be used to shuffle one or more decks of cards in various fashions including the standard traditional riffle, riffle, strip, riffle shuffle, the mathematically provably random seven riffles, and the ABC shuffle. The current the invention can also verify the number of cards present during each shuffle, and put scrambled decks back in order.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram of the hopper layout of one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross section view of a multideck embodiment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an outside view of the embodiment of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a table showing features of operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is another table showing features of operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is an outside view of a single deck only embodiment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a cross section view of the embodiment of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is an alternative design for the drive and roller wheels of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is another alternative design for the drive and roller wheels of FIG. 7.

FIG. 10 is an alternative design for the spring loaded deflector of FIG. 7.

FIG. 11 is a side view of an alternative hopper layout of this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

One aspect of the present invention includes the realization that there are no devices, random number generated driven or not, designed to do repetitive interleaving or sorting between two different sets of hoppers with each set of hoppers alternately functioning as receiving and sending hoppers. There are also no shufflers that duplicate the industry standard riffle, riffle, strip, riffle shuffle or the ABC hand shuffle.

An embodiment of the invention may shuffle a single deck of cards in various fashions including the industry standard riffle, riffle, strip, riffle shuffle and the mathematically provable seven riffle shuffle. It can also shuffle a multideck stack of cards using different methods, including the industry standard ABC shuffle. One embodiment can also verify that there is one and only one of each card, and do single or multideck setups.

An aspect of this invention is an automatic card shuffler of very simple design, which eliminates the jamming problems associated with the automatic card shufflers currently in use; reduces the cost of building an automatic card shuffler; and reduces shuffle time compared to other automatic card shufflers.

Another aspect of the invention is an improved card shuffling device using a proven mathematical model of card shuffling to drive a repetitive interlace shuffle, thereby outputting a shuffled deck that is a mathematically provable random deck.

Another aspect of the invention is a card shuffling device that can simulate the industry accepted methods of shuffling known as the riffle, riffle, strip, riffle shuffle and the ABC hand shuffle.

Another aspect of the invention is a card shuffler that can also put scrambled decks of cards back in order.

FIG. 1 shows a hopper arrangement of one embodiment of the invention, with four identical card hoppers, hoppers 100A, 100C, 100B, and 100D, arranged in a rectangular fashion. As shown, each hopper would be big enough in length and width to accommodate a standard size playing card 200 laying flat in a hopper. The four hoppers 100A, 100C, 100B, and 100D are formed by the area within outer wall 160 being subdivided by dividers 110, 111, 112, and 113. Dividers 110, 111, 112, and 113 are each attached to outer wall 160 and center post 120.

Also shown from this perspective axe some parts which will be discussed later, including: reversible drive wheels 130, 131, 132, and 133, which in conjunction with other parts facilitate the movement of cards 200 between adjacent hoppers; electric eyes 140A, 140B, 141A, 141B, 142A, 142B, 143A, and 143B which monitor and facilitate the movement of cards 200 between adjacent hoppers; read head 150; and, hinge 161.

While not shown from this perspective, the tops of dividers 110, 111, 112, and 113 would be recessed below the top edges of both outer wall 160 and center post 120, providing four pathways whereby a card 200 in any hopper can be moved to either adjacent hopper.

Referring to FIG. 2, outer wall 160 and divider 111 are fastened to bottom 263. Hinge 161 connects top 267 to outer wall 160. Top 267 can pivot upward on hinge 161. Top 267 is shown in it its closed position. Top 267, when closed, can be held in place by locking mechanism 264; which can be one or more electromagnets.

Hoppers 100A and 100D are shown being formed on their left and right sides by outer wall 160 and divider 111. Cards 200 are shown in hoppers 100A and 100D. The bottoms of hoppers 100A and 100D are formed by their respective elevator platforms 210A and 210D. Elevator platforms 210A and 210D are attached to their respective platform positioning drive belts 240A and 240D. Platform positioning drive belts 240A and 240D loop around their respective upper pulleys 247A and 247D and motor pulleys 246A and 246D.

Elevator platforms 210A and 210D can be raised or lowered by the action of their respective drive motors 242A and 242D which drive their respective motor pulleys 246A and 246D. The lower limit of travel for elevator platforms 210A and 210D is determined by their respective microswitches 230A and 230D; which are attached to divider 111. The upper limit of travel for elevator platforms 210A and 210D is determined by their respective microswitches 280A and 280D located in top 267.

Microswitches 280A and 280D work in conjunction with their respective spring loaded deflectors 290A and 290D, also in top 267. Spring loaded deflector 290D is shown in its normal resting full down position. Spring loaded deflector 290A is show with its spring partially compressed, at a position where microswitch 280A would be triggered. Triggering microswitch 280A would determine the upper limit of travel for elevator platform 210A. The exact position at which the vertical movement of elevator platform 210A would trigger microswitch 280A would be dependent upon the amount of cards 200 in hopper 100A.

Divider 111 is shown with reversible drive wheel 131, drive not shown. Spring loaded roller 231, mounted in top 267, is spring loaded to keep spring loaded roller 231 normally in contact with reversible drive wheel 131. The spring mounting, not shown, allows for a slight upward movement of spring loaded roller 231; to allow a card 200 to pass between reversible drive wheel 131 and spring loaded roller 231.

Each hopper also has two rotatable engagement wheels located in top 267. From the prospective shown in FIG. 2, only one rotatable engagement wheels is visible for each hopper, rotatable engagement wheel 270A above hopper 100A and rotatable engagement wheel 270D above hopper 100D. Rotatable engagement wheel 270D is shown in its normal resting position. It can be rotated clockwise 180 degrees at a time, drive not shown. Rotatable engagement wheel 270A is shown partially rotated. It is able to rotate counterclockwise 180 degrees at a time from its normal resting position.

Electric eyes 260A and 260D are show in top 267. They detect the presence or absence of cards 200 in their respective hoppers 100A and 100D. Electric eyes 141A and 141D are shown in divider 111. They detect the presence or absence of cards 200 immediately above them, between divider 111 and top 267.

Two user interface devices are also shown built into top 267, a user input panel 295, and a user display panel 296. Microprocessor 265 is also shown attached to bottom 263. Microprocessor 265 receives input from electric eyes 260A, 260D, 141A, 141D, microswitches 230A, 230D, 280A, and 280D, and user input panel 295. Microprocessor 265 would control the operation of locking mechanism 264, rotatable engagement wheels 270A and 270D, reversible drive wheel 131, and elevator platform positioning motors 242A and 242D, as well as send output to user display panel 296.

FIG. 3 is view of the outside of the embodiment of FIG. 2. Top 267 is again shown in its closed position, attached to outer wall 160 by hinge 161. Notches 310 are provided in outer wall 160 to allow top 267 to be manually opened by the operator. User display panel 296 and user input panel 295 are shown built into top 267. User input panel 295 is shown with: a load/unload button 311; a start/stop button 312; a setup button 313, and a power on/off button 314. To insure the integrity of a multideck game, setup button 313 could be replaced by a key switch. A cutout is provided in outer wall 160 for the operator to load and unload cards.

The lower edge of the cutout in outer wall 160 would be at a height sufficient to expose elevator platforms 210A and 210D, with elevator platforms 210A and 210D at their lowest limit of travel, as shown. The height and width of the cutout in outer wall 160 would be sufficient to allow an operator to easily insert or remove a single stack of up to eight decks of cards 200, up to 416 cards, at a time from hoppers 100A or 100D. Additional finger notches, not shown, may be provided in elevator platforms 210A and 210D and/or outer case 160 to facilitate the insertion or removal of cards 200 by the operator. For safety considerations, a door mechanism may be provided to cover the cutout in outer wall 160.

Operation

From a mechanical standpoint, the invention receives a single stack of one or more decks of cards to be processed and then moves cards one at a time between hoppers until ending up with a finished single stack of cards to be removed by the operator. The logic by which cards are moved between hoppers results in cards either being shuffled or put in order. The two mechanical operations, inputting and removing a stack of cards, and moving cards one at a time between hoppers, will be presented first. Then the logic by which cards are either shuffled or put in predetermined order will be presented.

A dip switch, not shown, would be provided to allow a casino to set the number of decks for the shuffler to process as well as the method of shuffling to be employed. One option could be to select the use of different methods of shuffling, on a random or rotating basis, so as to not use the same method of shuffling each time.

Card Input/Removal

Referring to FIG. 3, with elevator platforms 210A and 210D in their full down position, hopper 100D would be used to input a stack of cards to be processed, and hopper 100A would hold a finished stack of cards to be removed by the operator. To input cards an operator would simply place a stack of cards to be processed directly into hopper 100D. To remove cards an operator would simply reach in and remove a completed stack of cards from hopper 100A. If elevator platforms 210A and 210D are not in their full down position, the operator would first press load/unload pushbutton 311, on user input panel 295.

In this embodiment, top 267 would only be used by the operator as needed to either straighten a bent card or replace a damaged card with another undamaged card of the same rank and suit. To open top 267 an operator would first press start/stop pushbutton 312 on user input panel 295. This would unlock the door locking mechanism, shown in FIG. 2, and allow the operator to manually open door 267. After the bad card has been attended to by the operator the operator would close door 267 and press start/stop button 312 to allow the operation in progress to continue. An LED could be provided for each hopper, LED's not shown, to indicate to the operator into which hopper a card being replaced should be placed.

Moving Cards One at a Time Between Hoppers

FIG. 2 shows elevator platforms 210A and 210D so positioned for the topmost card 200 in hopper 100A to be moved to hopper 100D. Reversible drive wheel 131 would be set spinning clockwise by microprocessor 265. This in turn would set spring loaded roller 231 spinning counterclockwise. Rotatable engagement wheel 270 would then be rotated 180 counterclockwise from its normal resting position advancing the topmost card 200 in hopper 100A between reversible drive wheel 131 and spring loaded roller 231, whereby the rotation of reversible drive wheel 131 and spring loaded roller 231 would propel card 200 into hopper 100D.

As the card 200 enters hopper 100D it would be deflected downward below the top of divider 111 by spring loaded deflector 290D, so that a next card 200 entering hopper 100D would enter above a previous card 200 moved into hopper 100D. More than one spring loaded deflectors could be provided.

Electric eyes 141A and 141B would employed by microprocessor 265 to monitor that a card 200 has been successfully been moved between hoppers. Electric eyes 141A and 141B could also be used by microprocessor 265 to momentarily slow the speed of reversible drive wheel 131 as the card 200 being moved is almost into hopper 100D, thereby providing a braking mechanism to allow for a safe and/or quieter placement of card 200 into hopper 100D.

Moving a card 200 from hopper 100D to hopper 100A would be the reverse of the above. Elevator platform 210D would be raised until microswitch 280D is triggered, and elevator platform 210A would be lowered, to a position calculated by microprocessor 265 based on the number of cards 200 in the hopper 100A, low enough to allow a card 200 easy entry into hopper 100A, but high enough to ensure a card 200 entering hopper 100A could not tumble. Reversible drive wheel 131 would be set spinning counterclockwise and rotatable engagement wheel 270D would be used to feed a card 200.

Just as cards 200 can be moved between the two adjacent hoppers 100A and 100D, cards 200 can also be moved between other adjacent hoppers using the same process; referring to FIG. 1: between hoppers 100D and 100B; hoppers 100B and 100C; and, hoppers 100C and 100A.

Repetitive Interlace Shuffle

A repetitive interlace shuffle would only be used for shuffling a single deck of cards. Referring to FIG. 3, to commence a repetitive interlace shuffle, the operator would place a deck of cards 200 to be shuffled into hopper 100D, and press start push button 312. Microprocessor 265 would then run a repetitive shuffle simulation. The simulation would use a RNG to determine where the deck is going to be cut to produce a first and second half deck for each interlacing, and the pattern by which the first and second half decks are going to be interlaced on each interlacing. Microprocessor 265 would then cause the cards to be moved, one at a time between hoppers, to physically perform the shuffle generated by the shuffle simulation.

The first step would an initial cut of the deck, at a point determined by the shuffle simulation run by microprocessor 265, into a first and second half deck of cards, with each half deck of cards being in one pair of hoppers. Referring to FIG. 1, the hoppers diagonal to each other work as pairs, hoppers 100D and 100C would work as a pair, and hoppers 100A and 100B would work as another pair.

Referring to FIG. 4, Steps 2 and 3, the input deck is cut by moving approximately a half deck of cards 200, the exact the number of cards 200 as determined by the shuffle simulation run by microprocessor 265 for the initial cut of the deck, one at a time, from hopper 100D into hopper 100A, and then moving the same cards 200 again, one at a time, from hopper 100A into hopper 100C.

Once there are two half decks of cards in one pair of hoppers, the two half decks of cards can then be interlaced by moving cards from the one pair of hoppers, one card at a time in a pattern as determined by the shuffle simulation model, into one hopper of the other pair of hoppers.

Referring to FIG. 4 Step 4, cards 200 are first interlaced from hoppers 100D and 100C into hopper 100A. After the proper amount of cards 200 needed for a new first half deck for the next interlacing, as determined by the shuffle simulation run by microprocessor 265, have been placed into hopper 100A the remaining cards 200 in hoppers 100D and 100C are interlaced into hopper 100B to form a new second half deck.

As soon as the an interlacing is done from one pair of hoppers to the other pair of hoppers the cards 200 are cut and ready for the next interlacing, which is an improvement this invention has over previous inventions.

Referring again to FIG. 4, steps 5 thru 9, the cards are interlaced from one pair of hoppers to the other pair of hoppers the desired number of times. For the last interlacing, FIG. 4 step 10, all cards 200 are interlaced into hopper 100A to provide a single stack of shuffled cards for easy removal by the operator.

During the shuffle, microprocessor 265 would display a progress bar on user display panel 296, FIG. 3. Microprocessor 265 would also use user display panel 296 to inform the operator whether or not the correct number of cards were present. Using read head 150, FIG. 1, as will be discussed later, user display panel 267 could also used by microprocessor 265 to inform the user of which, if any, card was found missing or duplicated.

If a different number of interlacings was desired, other than seven, the initial cut of the deck could have been accomplished by first moving cards 200 into one hopper of the other pair and then the remaining cards 200 into the second hopper of the other pair, if needed to allow the final interlacing of cards 200 into hopper 100A. The benefit of doing a seven interlace shuffle, is that seven interlacings result in a mathematically provable random outcome.

Riffle, Riffle, Strip, Riffle Shuffle

The industry standard riffle, riffle, strip, riffle shuffle would also only be used for shuffling a single deck of cards. The riffle, riffle, strip, riffle shuffle would start out the same as described for the Repetitive Interlace Shuffle, through step 5 of FIG. 4; at which point a first approximately half deck of cards 200 is in hopper 100D and the remaining cards 200 are in hopper 100C. The next step would be to divide the cards in both hoppers in half, the exact number of cards 200 as determined by the riffle, riffle, strip, riffle shuffle simulation run by microprocessor 265, and invert the two halves in each hopper. Since each hopper holds approximately half a deck of cards 200, half of the cards 200 in each hopper would be a quarter of a deck of cards.

To invert the two quarters of the deck of cards, the half deck, in hopper 100D, approximately half of the cards in hopper 100D, the top quarter deck of cards, would be moved, one at a time, to a hopper of the other pair, hopper 100A for example. The remaining cards in hopper 100D, the bottom quarter deck of cards, would then be moved one at a time to the other hopper of the other pair, hopper 100B. The top quarter deck of cards that were moved to hopper 100A would then be returned to hopper 100D. The bottom quarter deck of cards that were moved to hopper 100B would then be returned to hopper 100D, being placed on what previously the top quarter deck in hopper 100D.

The process just described would then be repeated for the cards in hopper 100C, inverting the two quarters of the deck in hopper 100C. The two half decks, in hoppers 100D and 100C can now be interlaced together into hopper 100A as the last riffle of the riffle, riffle, strip, riffle shuffle, resulting in a finished deck in hopper 100A.

The benefit of the riffle, riffle, strip, riffle shuffle as compared to the repetitive interlace shuffle is that riffle, riffle, strip, riffle shuffle is accomplished with a smaller number of cards movements, and is therefore faster. One of the benefits of the Invention doing a riffle, riffle, strip, riffle shuffle, as compared to a live dealer, is that the Invention, unlike a liver dealer, would never get sloppy and do a poor shuffle; allowing cards to clump instead of interlace.

Single Deck Setup

After the operator place a single deck of cards into hopper 100D and presses setup button 314, microprocessor 265 first moves all of the cards in hopper 100D, one at a time, into hopper 100A. As each card is moved, from 100D to hopper 100A, each card passes over read head 150 which transmits an electronic image of at least the corner of each card to microprocessor 265. Microprocessor 265 translates each image received into a card's rank and suit, and compiles a list by rank and suit of each card placed into hopper 100A. Microprocessor 265 would translate the electronic images into a card's rank and suit by comparison of the obtained image with know images. The known images could be preloaded into the microprocessor 265, or obtained through a learn mode.

Once all cards have been read, microprocessor 265 would cause the cards 200 in hopper 100A to be sorted to both hoppers of the other pair, according to a set of rules setting forth the card movements necessary to get the random deck of cards back into a properly ordered deck. FIG. 5 illustrates one such sort routine; other sort algorithms, besides the one illustrated in FIG. 5 could just as easily employed.

Sorting is a different concept than interlacing. In interlacing cards are fed in an in an order determined by a RNG from two hoppers of the first pair of hoppers into one hopper of the other pair of hoppers and then into the second hopper of the other pair. In sorting cards are fed from only one hopper of the first pair, in accordance with a set of rules, into either hopper of the second pair and then cards are fed from the second hopper of the first pair into either hoppers of the second pair. Just as with interlacing, as soon as a sort is done from one pair of hoppers to the other pair of hoppers the cards are ready for the next sort, which is an improvement this invention has over other inventions.

As shown in FIG. 5, repetitive sorts are done until all cards are in proper order and wind up in hopper 100A for easy removal by the operator. As microprocessor 265 would keep track of the rank and suit of all cards as the cards are being moved, only the one initial read operation would not be required

Multideck Setup

After an operator has placed a multideck stack of cards into hopper 100D and pressed setup pushbutton 313, microprocessor 265 would commence to move cards 200 one at a time from hopper 100D into hopper 100A, reading the rank and suit of each card as it is as previously described. Moving cards one at a time into hopper 100A would continue until microprocessor 265 determines that at least one card of each rank and suit has been placed into hopper 100A.

Once at least one card of each rank and suit has been placed into hopper 100A, microprocessor 265 would then sort the cards 200 that were placed into hopper 100A. One card of each rank and suit would be sent to hopper 100C. Duplicate cards would be sent back to hopper 100D. The result would be one full deck of unsorted cards 200 in hopper 100C. Microprocessor 265 would then do a setup on only this one deck of cards in hopper 100C, as previously described, completely ignoring the extra decks of cards in hopper 100D, and placing the finished, setup, deck of cards 200 in hopper 100A.

The above process would be repeated, ignoring any finished deck or decks of cards 200 in hopper 100A, until hopper 100D is empty and hopper 100A holds a stack of decks each of which has been setup.

ABC Multiple Deck Shuffle

Many different methods of shuffling multi deck stacks of cards are possible. The method of shuffling which will be now described is for the invention to duplicate the industry standard ABC hand shuffle. Referring to FIG. 3, after an operator has placed a multideck stack of cards into hopper 100D, as previously described, the operator presses start/stop pushbutton 312, on user input panel 295, to commence the shuffle. Microprocessor 265 would first run an ABC shuffle simulation using an RNG, and then move all cards in accordance with the results of the simulation.

In the ABC hand shuffle, a dealer would first cut a multideck stack of cards into two stacks; A and C. For the invention to cut the deck, microprocessor 265 would first move approximately half of the cards 200 from hopper 100D, one at a time, into hopper 100A, and then the remaining cards one at a time into hopper 100B.

The next step for a dealer would be to do a riffle, riffle, strip, riffle shuffle, using a half deck of cards from each of the multideck stacks, and placing the resultant shuffled cards in the middle to start a new stack, stack B. The dealer would then do a series of riffle, riffle, strip, riffle shuffles, each time using a half deck from the top of stack B and a half deck of cards from either stack A or C in an alternating manor placing the resultant shuffled cards in the middle on stack B until stacks A and C are depleted and a new single multideck stack of cards has been formed. This new multideck stack of cards would then be cut again for the next step.

For the invention, once the original input multideck stack of cards has been cut a series of riffle, riffle, strip, riffle shuffles would commence in accordance with the simulation run by microprocessor 265, using half decks at a time in the same order as a dealer doing a multideck setup, ignoring the extra cards in any hoppers except for the single deck worth of cards being shuffled, first placing the finished output into hopper 100D and then the remaining cards into hopper 100C to cut the multideck stack of cards for next step.

The last step for a dealer would be to riffle the cards from the two stacks together to form a finished multideck stack of cards. For the invention, the last step of the shuffle would be to interlace all of the cards from hoppers 100D and 100C together into hopper 100A. Microprocessor 265 would the move elevator platforms 210A and 210D to their full down positions to allow for the operator to remove the multideck stack of shuffled cards 200 in hopper 100A and input a new multideck stack of cards to be shuffled into hopper 100D.

Custom Multideck Shuffle

Shuffling a multideck stack of cards involves two concepts, breaking up runs and breaking up clumps. A run is a series of cards in a certain order. Clumping is when a certain part of the multideck stack of cards has more than its share of certain cards. Shuffling single deck chunks one at a time out of a multideck stack of cards breaks up runs. Interlacing different parts of a multideck stack breaks up clumps.

There are any number of ways the current invention can manipulate, interlace, and shuffle different parts of a multideck stack of cards. Many different ways of shuffling are envisioned, along with using different methods of shuffling on a random or rotating basis to make it impossible for a player to anticipate what cards may be coming out in what order.

Single Deck Only Embodiment—Description And Operation

While the previously described multideck capacity embodiment could be used for single deck card games, a more practical approach would be to use an embodiment designed specifically to handle only one deck of cards at a time. FIG. 6 is an outside view of a single deck embodiment of the invention. Outer case 160 is not as deep and there is no cutout to load and unload cards. Cards would be loaded through top 267.

Referring to FIG. 6, to input a deck of cards 200 the operator would push top open pushbutton 316. This would signal microprocessor 265 to activate a door positioning mechanism, not show, which would cause top 267 to pivot upward on hinge 161. The operator could then input a deck of cards 200 to be processed and/or remove a completed deck of cards. After allowing for a suitable length of time for the operator to input and remove the single decks of cards, microprocessor 265 would then activate the door positioning mechanism, not shown, causing top 267 to pivot downward on hinge 161.

Referring to FIG. 1, hoppers 100D and 100B are furthest away from hinge 161 and would therefore be the easiest for the operator to have access to, and would therefore be designated as the hoppers to be used by the operator for input and output. To avoid confusion, different hoppers could be designated for input and output depending on whether a deck of cards is to be shuffled or put in order. For shuffling, the operator would place a deck of cards 200 to be shuffled in hopper 100D and remove a deck of shuffled cards 200 from hopper 100B. For doing a setup, hopper 100B would be used for input and hopper 100D would be used to remove a finished deck.

Microprocessor 265, using electric eyes 260A, 260B, 260C, and 260D, would then verify that there are cards 200 present in one and only one hopper, and which hopper. If cards are present in hopper 100B only, microprocessor 265 would await further instructions from the operator; for the operator to push either top open pushbutton 316 or setup pushbutton 317. If cards 200 are present in hopper 100D only, microprocessor 265 would commence a shuffle. The process of doing a shuffle or setup would be the same as described earlier.

Referring to FIG. 7, elevator platforms 210A and 210D could be positioned by simpler mechanism such as screw drives 320A and 320D. For easier input and or removal of cards by the operator, the upper limit of travel for elevator platforms 210B and 210D could occur with top 267 in its open position. With top 267 open, elevator platforms 210B and 210D can be raised upward by their respective elevator platform positioning devices, 320B and 320D, until an internal stop, not shown, is hit at which point the top of the elevator platforms are about equal to the height of outer wall 160.

Alternative Components/Placement

Read head 150, shown in divider 111, FIG. 1, could alternatively be incorporated into one of the elevator platform shown in FIG. 2, or set into outer wall 160. If read head 150 was placed in outer wall 160 next to hopper 100A, rotatable engagement wheel 270A would be rotated clockwise to put a card 200 into a read position, and then rotated counterclockwise to advance the card that has been read into hopper 100D. Either of these designs would allow for a thinner divider 111. With read head 150 in divider 111, a second read head could be placed in divider 113 to insure all cards get read and checked during a shuffle.

An alternative design for reversible drive wheel 131 and spring loaded roller 231, as shown in FIG. 7, would be a segmented roller 330 and a spring guide 332, as shown in FIG. 8. Another alternative design for reversible drive wheel 131 and spring loaded roller 231, shown in FIG. 7, would be to replace spring loaded roller 231 with slave drive wheel 336, as shown in FIG. 9. In the design shown in FIG. 9, with top 267 closed, power would be transmitted to slave drive wheel 336 by means of power transmission wheels 340 and 341, which are attached to shafts 350 and 351. Another alternative design would be to extend divider 111 upward, and have spring loaded roller 231 incorporated into divider 111. Another possible alternative design for reversible drive wheel 131 and spring loaded roller 231 shown in FIG. 7, would be to replace reversible drive wheel 131 with a tractor belt and replace spring loaded roller 231 with a compressed air vent.

An air movement system, shown in FIG. 10, could also be used in place of spring loaded deflector 290D shown in FIG. 7. A blower 360 is provided, which would take air inward through intake vents provided in divider 111, through intake line 364, and output air through return line 362. Return line 362 would run through center post 120 and output air through vents in top 267. Microswitch 280D in FIG. 7, which worked in conjunction with spring loaded deflector 290D, would be replaced with a standalone microswitch 366 as shown in FIG. 10. Electric eyes or proximity sensors could also be used instead of microswitches.

Many different variations are possible on the components as described, as well as their placement, none of which would alter the basic function of the invention. While the description of the embodiments so far has been aimed towards a “professional” version of the embodiment, a cheaper “home version” embodiment is also envisioned which would be variation of the embodiment as previously described. In such an embodiment, the rotatable engagement wheels would be replaced by similarly rotatable wheels which would function as kickers. The rotating kickers would do a full or partial rotation with enough force and speed to by their movement alone to both engage a card and propel the card into an adjacent hopper. This design would eliminate the reversible drive wheels altogether, and allow for thinner dividers.

In yet another embodiment, the dividers may have a rounded top, or be angled upward on each side.

In yet another embodiment, electronic eyes and the read head would be dispensed with.

In some embodiments, the dividers while shown running the full length of a hopper, would also be less than the length of a hopper.

Alternative Hopper Arrangement

The embodiments presented so far show four hoppers arranged as a square, with the hoppers in opposing corners working as pairs, so that a card removed from one hopper of one pair can be delivered to a selected hopper of the other pair. Other hopper arrangements are possible which also allow for four hoppers to work as two pairs and are therefore the same invention. FIG. 11 shows a different hopper arrangement with the four hoppers arranged in a straight line. In this embodiment, the two hoppers on the one side work as one pair, and the two hoppers on the other side work as the other pair. Again, a card removed from one hopper of either pair can be delivered to a selected hopper of the other pair.

Referring to FIG. 11, Hopper 400A is formed by hopper bottom 441A and hopper back 440A. Under hopper bottom 440A is engagement wheel 456A, which protrudes through hopper bottom 440A, so that the bottom most card 200 in hopper 400A is resting on engagement wheel 456A. Engagement wheel 456A can be rotated clockwise as needed. At the open end of hopper 400A are acceleration wheels 450A and 452A. Both acceleration wheels are constantly spinning, 450A clockwise and 452A counterclockwise, driven by motor 470. Hopper 400B is next to hopper 400A and is identical in design. Hoppers 400C and 400D are on the other side and are mirror images of hoppers 400A and 400B.

Above all four hoppers is a single top 420. The bottom of top 420 acts as a glide path as will be described. Located in top 420 are diverters 460L and 460R. Diverter 460L is shown in its down position. Diverter 460R is shown in its up position. The movement of diverters 460L and 460R are controlled by their respective diverter positioning devices 462L and 462R.

To move a card from a hopper of one pair to a hopper of the other pair, microprocessor 480 would first position the diverter on the sending side in its up position. Microprocessor 480 would then rotate the engagement wheel for the hopper the card is to be removed from. The rotation of the engagement wheel would move the bottom card in the hopper into the acceleration wheels. The acceleration wheels would then propel the card with enough speed so that the card upon leaving the acceleration wheels would glide along the underside of top 420 towards the hoppers of the second pair. The positioning of the diverter above the second pair of hoppers would determine which hopper of the second pair receives the card.

With the ability to remove a card from one hopper of one pair and deliver the card to a selected hopper of the other pair, Microprocessor 480 could, as previously described, run a shuffle simulation and then move cards in accordance with the shuffle simulation, or, with the addition of a read head to read the rank and suit of each card, microprocessor 480 could read each card and then move cards in accordance with a set of rules, as previously described, to do a setup. With top feed hoppers instead of bottom feed hoppers, multideck shuffles and setups could be accomplished. 

1. An automated shuffling apparatus configured to shuffle a plurality of playing cards, the apparatus comprising: an outer wall; four card hoppers formed within the outer wall, configured to accommodate the playing cards laying flat, the card hoppers arranged with two adjacent card hoppers to form a rectangular formation, the card hoppers being subdivided by a divider; means for moving a card from one of the four hoppers to an adjacent hopper; a microprocessor configured to control the means for moving the card; wherein the microprocessor is configured to run a shuffle simulation, the microprocessor simulates the shuffle using a random number generator to determine where the plurality of playing cards will be cut for interlacing, and how the cards are to be interlaced, and the microprocessor is configured to instruct the means for moving the cards to execute the shuffle generated by the shuffle simulation.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least one of the card hoppers further comprises: an elevator platform positioned as a bottom of the hopper; a drive mechanism configured to raise and lower the elevator platform; wherein the microprocessor is further configured to control the drive mechanism to raise and lower the elevator platform.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, including at least one sensor configured to monitor the presence or absence of cards in a card hopper, and the sensor is configured to report to the microprocessor.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the sensor to monitor the presence or absence of cards in a card hopper is an electronic eye.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the microprocessor is configured to determine a number of playing cards.
 6. The apparatus of claim 2, including at least one sensor to monitor the movement of the card, and the sensor reports the movement to the microprocessor.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the sensor to monitor the movement of the card is an electronic eye.
 8. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein a top is coupled to the outer wall with a hinge.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the top further comprises at least one deflector configured to deflect the topmost card into the adjacently located card hopper.
 10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the top further comprises a means to engage a drive wheel to cause the movement of the topmost card in a hopper.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10 further comprising a drive roller to facilitate the movement of cards between adjacent hoppers.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the microprocessor controls the speed and direction of the drive wheel.
 13. The apparatus of claim 2, including a user interface panel, wherein the user interface further comprises a display panel.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the display panel is configured to indicate progress of the shuffle of the playing cards.
 15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the user interface panel is further configured to accept instructions from the operator and communicate the instructions to the microprocessor.
 16. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the shuffle simulations include a standard traditional riffle, riffle, strip, riffle shuffle, seven riffles, and the ABC shuffle.
 17. A method for automatically shuffling at least one deck of playing cards including: providing a deck of cards; providing first and second pairs of card hoppers; providing a first mechanism and a second mechanism; placing portions of the deck of cards in the hoppers of the first pair of hoppers; operating the first mechanism, the first mechanism selectively removing the cards from either hopper of the first pair of hoppers and interlacing the cards into the second pair of hoppers; operating the second mechanism, the second mechanism selectively removing the cards from either hopper of the second pair of hoppers and interlacing the cards into the first pair of hoppers; and providing a control device coupled with the first and second mechanisms to effect the selective removal of the cards from the first and second pairs of hoppers and to effect alternating operations of the first and second mechanisms.
 18. A method according to claim 17 wherein movement and interlacing cards from the first pair of hoppers to the second pair of hoppers and back again is repeated a predetermined number of times.
 19. A method according to claim 18 further including cutting cards for a next shuffle from one pair of hoppers to another simultaneously as cards are being interlaced from one pair of hoppers to another pair of hoppers.
 20. A method according to claim 17 further including cutting cards for a next shuffle from one pair of hoppers to another simultaneously as cards are being interlaced from one pair of hoppers to another pair of hoppers. 